Following President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s remarks on recognising the English language as a national language, the Department of Official Languages stressed the need of providing Sri Lankans with the required facilities to learn English ahead of implementing the said decision.

When contacted by The Daily Morning yesterday (19), Commissioner General of Official Languages W. Prince Senadeera also said that the department welcomes the President’s proposal as a progressive measure to enhance the range of opportunities for Sri Lankans. Senadeera said, however, that it would be important to ensure an adequate number of English teachers are available along with other facilities before making it a national language. “The proposal of the President to recognise English as a national language is a progressive idea; as a department, we welcome it. But, before making it a national language, the facilities to learn English must be improved,” he said.

He further said that the President’s intention is to make English a main working language within the State while Sinhala and Tamil are also continued as national languages. However, he said that no formal discussion has been held in this regard.

President Wickremesinghe, during his address at the national ceremony for awarding teacher appointments to National Education Diploma holders held last week, expressed his commitment to promoting English as a national language and ensuring that teachers and necessary resources are provided for its effective teaching.

He also said that despite English not being the official language, many of the country’s documents and files are still maintained in English and that it is, therefore, important to recognise English as a main language and to pave the way for young generations to be fluent in it.